Particular implementations of 3D gesture recognition systems and related methods can enable data access and communication by a vehicle driver while maximizing the time the driver is watching the road. Because the use of gesture recognition permits the driver to interact with a computing system without requiring touching or use of an interface device (such as a keyboard or mouse), the driver's hands are essentially free at almost all times for performing driving tasks. Other implementations of 3D gesture recognition systems and related methods may be used in a wide variety of other systems and use conditions. Promoting eyes on the road is a key aspect of any vehicular human-machine interface.
Conventional approaches to 3D gesture recognition exist. Conventional approaches to 3D gesture recognition suffer from a number of difficulties such as robustness, perspective, lens aberrations, pose, weak responses to lighting conditions, sensor saturation, weak performance under very violent vibration conditions, differences in skin tone from user to user, variable lighting conditions, and many other challenges. Conventional solutions typically approach solving these problems by developing predictive algorithms that utilize definite and absolute thresholds for various critical parameters in their algorithms. The problem with such systems is that they cannot easily adapt if they encounter situations that are beyond a particular algorithm's threshold, or outside the scope of usability of a given set of algorithms and implementations. Other approaches utilize time-of-flight cameras to mitigate the need for scene reconstruction, or even creating a depth map. The problem with TOF sensors is that they have very unpredictable responses to both, very strong ambient lighting conditions, as well as very high vibration—motion blur is a major issue with TOF sensors. Motion blur can wreak havoc on the image acquisition process, undermining the entire gesture recognition system.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide an apparatus that overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art.